8 smart and sassy crime fiction writers dish on writing and life.
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Monday, December 6, 2010

On Royal Weddings

JAN: When my 23-year old daughter told me that she fantasized about going to London to try to glimpse of the procession of the wedding of Kate Middleton to Prince William, it didn't surprise me. Although she is pre-med student who whizzes through through organic chemistry as if it's hardly a challenge, she spends a frightening amount of down time reading Perez Hilton and keeping up with the Kardashians.

But when my HUSBAND, a man who doesn't even know about the Kardashians or Perez Hilton, or whether or not Angelina has a baby bump, seriously suggested that we start planning a trip to London so that we could stand outside Westminster Abbey where Kate and William allegedly will wed, I almost choked.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"I mean it." he answered.

"To stand on the street with the teeming masses?".

"This probably the only other wedding of a monarch we could experience in our lifetime," he replied.

Frankly, I think this may be the affect of all the TUDORS we'd recently watched together, but it got me thinking.

Although I certainly wish Kate and William well, and have some curiosity about the wedding dress she chooses, I have so little interest in the royal wedding that I probably won't even watch it on television. But clearly I'm in the minority. So my question is: Do you care?? And why?''

Why is the wedding of a potential monarch relevant in a post-feudal era? Is it just something positive for the world to focus on in the midst of economic upheaval? An aftermath of the Diana tragedy? Or is it the fairy tale element that most of us can't resist?

ROSEMARY: This one I really could care less about.

Let me get this straight - she parades around in a see-through dress to get the guy's attention? Wow. Regal.

I did stay up all night to watch the Diana/Charles nuptuals, but that was pre-internet, pre-24/7 celeb news when it could reasonably be considered a historic event and not "Oy..that dysfunctional family again?" (She says, rationalizing the decision.) Also watched the funeral.

But I've never seen the Kardashians, any housewives, any contestants or any bimbos from south Jersey. Right now...I'm watching Witness for the Prosecution. I'd rather watch an old classic.

JAN: I'm with you on that Ro. I watched a movie on Bravo last night (Donnie Brasco, one of my all time favorites) and I was blown away by the advertising of incredibly stupid reality shows -- hair salon makeovers? And everyone is always screaming at each other and losing their minds. Haven't I been trying to avoid these people most of my life?

HALLIE: Wouldn't you just love to get married in Westminster Abbey? It is THE most gorgeous church interior, and actually fairly intimate as those things go. I'll be fascinated by the dress, but otherwise not so much. The whole Diana thing soured me on the Royals.

ROBERTA: She paraded around in a see-through dress?? Boy, am I out of the loop! Diana was definitely a fairy-tale princess story, but Kate seems a little more modern and the story a lot less--glittery and mysterious. I mean the girl has been dating him for EIGHT years, what's sexy about that? I think I would much rathe

r have been there to witness Chelsea Clinton's wedding than this one. Though I will enjoy seeing the dress she chooses and the whole wedding scene. I'm with you Jan, not much interest at all in standing out in the streets of London, hoping for a glimpse of something!

JAN: I didn't know about Kate's see-through dress either, Roberta. But I don't want to knock them for dating eight years. Given how the fairytale romance between Charles and Diana turned out, I think the eight years is a good sign.

RO: She was modeling at a fashion show that she knew he was attending.

Okay, I get it...go for it. But hardly the fairy tale that we're all supposed to oooh and aaaah over. By the way, the dress may be for sale if anyone's interested in snagging another prince.

RHYS: writing very little as I just broke my wrist, but a royal wedding will give Britain's economy a real boost. At least she's smart even if she is a commoner. And I'm giving weekly royal gossips on my solo blog: http://www.rhysbowen.blogspot.com/

HANK: Oh, gee. I don't care. Not at all. Yes, the dress, okay, fine, love to see it. She really set her cap for him, and succeeded, so good for her. (I don't really like her hair, so there.) And that doesn't so much look like a dress as a see-through thing with a bathing suit underneath. (How many of us would be caught dead in it? Let's even say we could pull it off?)

Several years ago, say ten, I had this fantasy, which I really thought about for a week or so. How could you, I wondered, make someone who is absolutely NOT famous (hasn't ever done anything, seriously a nobody) into someone who IS famous? I had some ideas, and theorized that it COULD work. (Someday I'll tell all about the scheme.)

It would have worked. But who cares, now. It's what happens every day.

JAN: I think its interesting that nearly all of us are interested in the dress! So let's hear from everyone else out there? Do you care about the royal wedding -- even a bit? And why?

And come back tomorrow for True Crime Tuesday when I talk about bank robberers and the strange place they hold in my heart.

After Diana's heartbreaking life, seeing another "fairy tale" wedding would bring me sadness. Ceremonies, pomp and circumstance isn't my thing. I had a low key wedding myself. Now anniversaries I can appreciate! Reading fictional fairy tales is the only way to go. The book ends HEA.

Hey Jan, I would love it if you would do another Write First challenge starting January 1st. What a great way to get the year started and out of the holiday slack mode. You could stick with the one page thing or switch it up to two or go to a word count, or story contest with prizes...? I'm in!

"Reality" shows--bleech! And how realistic is it to have a camera crew+producers+make-up people+others (Hank would know) follow you around while you "raised" your 8 kids, swapped spouses with strangers, or ran a tattoo parlor? As to the wedding--yes to the dress (there's another reality show for you: "Say Yes to the Dress")--no to the rest of it. I wish I thought kate would get to pick her own dress, but I'm sure it'll be a committee decision, based on getting publicity for the "right" designers, enhancing the royals' image (not too staid, but not too extravagant), etc.

Anyone remember the first reality show? An American Family on, of all things, public television. Followed the Loud family...through divorce, a gay son... all very shocking considering it ran against The Brady Bunch. Reality TV does not interest me at all, though it was just the excuse the TV industry needed to fire writers.

My (minimal) interest in the Royal Wedding is in the contrasts between this one and Charles & Diana. This couple seems to be working hard to avoid the pitfalls while honoring some traditions. They reportedly refused the services of a wedding planner and are trying to walk the line between the kind of spectacle that is good for British spirits and the economy and the kind of in-your-face extravaganza that would not go over well with people struggling to make ends meet. I wish them well. It's not a life I'd choose and he, at least, has little choice.

I'd like to see the dress because I sew and love that type of thing. As for the rest, no really interested but since my twin sister is, I'll hear more about it than most people who don't really do the reality TV thing. I wish them well, but...

As for the challenge, you can count me in. I'll held up the other one pretty well but am starting to slip. I also signed up for two online classes in January so a larger page count might be tough; however, it would depend on the amount of snow we get. Okay, please do not hit me snowballs for mentioning this, but we had flurries all day today so I have snow on the brain.

The Soup is on Comedy Central, Friday nights I think. Some of the guy's jokes are funny and some are crude. Some of the jokes fly over my head, because I don't watch the shows. I forgot there is a reality show I watch, So You Think You Can Dance. I justify this one because the "contestants" do something redeeming.

I think you ladies are a bit unfair as to Kate's "see-through" dress. Who wouldn't, at nineteen or twenty, have jumped at the chance to parade down a fashion show runway in front of a boy you fancied, be he prince or pauper? And the dress was no more revealing than a modest bikini.

She seems to me to be a sensible and classy young woman who has a good idea what she's getting into--a tough job. Fairy tale it's not.

And I'm all for a royal wedding, tastefully done, which seems to be the agenda. Britain's economy needs the boost. But as for going, no way! NO desire to be squashed on the streets of London!

I think I'll stay home and watch David Hasselhoff's new reality TV show instead:-)

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